Alive With The Glory Of Love
by keycloak
Summary: After sharing a dance at the Yule Ball, Hermione and Fred begin to date. This shows a little of their relationship over the years, and how it ends during the Final Battle.  Twist ending


_I am not Jo Rowling, and she is the one responsible for the amazing series that is Harry Potter!_

This story won't be very long. I'm thinking that it will be four or five chapters long, ending during Deathly Hallows._  
><em>

* * *

><p>"Oh yeah?" Ron yelled back. "What's that?"<p>

"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!"

The words tumbled out of my mouth before I even realised what I was doing. I was just so _angry._ How could he be so cruel?

"Well," he splutered, looking thunderstruck, "well – that just proves – completely missed the point - "

I felt my eyes begin to water, and I had to leave. Before he had a chance to say anything else, I ran. I didn't pay attention to where I was going, and just kept going down the corridor, tears blinding my vision. I rounded the corner, and stopped. I noticed that there was nobody around. I leaned against the wall, tears steaming down my face. I slumped down onto the ground, and wrapped my arms around my legs.

"Hermione?" A concerned voice asked.

I looked up, and there was Fred Weasley. _Great,_ I thought, _he's just going to make fun of me. _But instead of mocking me, he slowly walked over, and sat down next to me. He gave me a half smile, as if to comfort me.

"You alright?"

I sniffed, and nodded. He sighed, and ran a hand through his fiery red hair. "Ron's a right foul git." I gave a watery chuckle in response. He cracked a smile, happy to have made me laugh a little.

"So, you and Krum? How did that happen?" Fred asked.

I shrugged. "He kept following me around when I was alone. In the corridors, in the library, everywhere. He didn't say much, but it was still annoying. One day he asked me to the ball, and since nobody else had asked me, I said yes."

He frowned a little at that. I briefly wondered why, but Fred suddenly stood up. With a grin, he held out his hand. "Let's dance." The shock must have been apparent on my face, because he laughed. "Come on, Granger. It's just a dance, not a marriage proposal!"

I thought it over in my head for a few seconds, and I noticed his grin start to falter.

"Alright." I grabbed his proffered hand, and with a smile, he led me back into the Great Hall.

It was getting late, and there weren't many people left on the dance floor. When we got there, I put my hands on his shoulders, and his hands took hold of my waist. The physical contact felt odd, but surpisingly, I enjoyed it.

The thought made me blush, and he definitely noticed this. He cocked his head to the side in confusion, and I just looked away. I heard him give a low chuckle, and it made me smile.

He began to hum to the music softly, and we slowly travelled around the dance floor. I looked up at Fred, and I was surprised to see him staring straight at me. I blushed again, but didn't look away this time.

"You look beautiful tonight, by the way." I could feel my cheeks heat up even more.

"Oh, thank you. It's nice of you to say that, but you don't have to lie to make me feel better." I said quietly. Fred's brow furrowed in confusion.

"You think that I'm lying? Hermione, I'm being completely honest. You _do_ look beautiful tonight. I'm not just being nice. Every bloke here would agree with me, even if Ron was too thick to realise it."

"Thank you." I whispered, not really knowing what else to say. He smiled, then looked around the room. I did the same, and noticed that we were the only ones left, except for some house elves that were cleaning up. I sighed, deciding not to bother with S.P.E.W. tonight.

Fred removed his hands, and grabbed one of my own. "Come on, we better go." I nodded, and we walked upstairs, still holding hands.

As we entered the common room, nobody was there. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and looked at me. "It was nice dancing with you tonight. I'm sorry Ron was a git to you. I'll get him back for it, though." With the last sentence, he winked.

I smiled at him, feeling thankful that he went out of his way to comfort me.

He smiled back, and said, "Goodnight, Hermione." He kissed me on the cheek, and bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

My hand reached up and touched my cheek. Though I didn't know why, I grinned.

And with that, I went upstairs to my four poster bed, and fell into a deep slumber.

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><p>During the weeks that followed the Yule Ball, I began to spend more time with Fred, and George as well, because you could rarely separate the two. They were there to make me smile and laugh, and whenever I passed the point of doing too much homework, they pulled me away from it.<p>

I was sitting in a chair in the common room, when suddenly a pair of hands covered my face.

"Guess who?" It was obviously one of the twins, and by the sound of their voice, it was Fred.

I giggled, which was something I was beginning to do a lot more as of recently. "Fred, stop!"

"Oi! How do you know I'm not George? We're practically the same person, you know."

"I can tell by the sound of your voice." I replied knowingly. Fred took his hands away from my eyes, came around the chair to face me, and looked at me with a very confused face.

"You can tell us apart by the sound of our _voice_?" I just nodded, suddenly embarassed. It wasn't just their voices, either. There were plenty of other ways to tell them apart. I was actually quite astonished that practically nobody else could see that.

He laughed, and said, "That's brilliant!" Still laughing, he went over to sit with George and Angelina, who were looking quite cozy. I could tell that he was telling George what I said, and I went back to reading the book in my lap. But oddly enough, I couldn't focus on the text in front of me. I realised that I didn't _want _to read. Well, that was a first. Why did I not have a desire to read?

I raised my head, and scanned the room. My eyes fell on Ron, who was sitting next to Harry across the room. Usually when I looked at Ron, my heart would begin to race, and my stomach would do flips. But now, nothing. My heart was at its normal pace, and my stomach just felt hungry.

Then I looked around again, and my eyes found Fred. He was animatedly talking to George, obviously quite excited about something. George nodded, then turned around to ask Angelina something.

Sensing that someone was watching him, Fred looked around, and his eyes locked with mine. Suddenly, my heart was beating quickly, and my stomach began doing summersaults.

He smiled sweetly at me, and I returned the gesture. I could feel myself blushing, and decided to pretend to go back to reading my book. What was going on? Surely I didn't have feelings for Fred Weasley, my best friend's older brother. Did I?

I looked up, and he was still staring at me. Embarassed, he started talking to George again, and I could see a faint blush creep into his own cheeks.

Going back to my book, I smiled. Then I understood what I was doing. I was grinning like an idiot because Fred Weasley was staring at me. I forced myself to stop smiling, because I realised that I did like him as more than a friend, and that was potentially a problem.

To start, he's Ron's older brother. Isn't there some rule about not dating your friend's siblings?

And then there was the problem of the thought of _dating_ Fred. I knew that he was staring at me, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I mean, why would he like me? He was one of the most popular boys in the school, and there were plenty of girls who were infatuated with him and George. How would I, a bushy haired bookworm, possibly attract him?

Right in the middle of these intense thoughts, a hand tapping on my shoulder interupted me. Standing right next to me was Fred Weasley. I shyly smiled up at him.

"Hermione, would you like to go for a walk?"

Suddenly I felt very nervous, and a little nauseated. But I stood up, and went with him. I shot a glance at Harry and Ron, and both of them were looking at me with confused faces. I nonchalantly shrugged.

Following Fred out of the portrait hole, we started walking down the corridor. He was smiling, and kept sneaking glances at me.

Finally we reached a door, and he pushed it open. Inside was an empty classroom, and we walked in. I stood there, waiting for him to say something, and I mindlessly played with a string on my robes.

"I just wanted to...talk." For the first time I could remember, Fred Weasley sounded nervous.

"Oh, alright then. What did you want to talk about?"

He took a deep breath, and looked at me.

"Hermione...I, well, I fancy you."

I felt as if my heart stopped beating at that very moment. Fred...fancied me? Half of me was confused, and the other half was leaping with joy. I must have been silently thinking for quite awhile, because he began to shuffle nervously.

"Please say something." He said with a frown.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I just, I'm a bit confused. You fancy me? As in, you have feelings for me?" I asked stupidly.

Sheepishly, Fred nodded. His cheeks were pink, and he look worried.

"If you don't feel the same way, that's completely fine, I just wanted to tell you, because I've fancied you for a while now, and after we danced at the ball, I just thought maybe.." He trailed off, suddenly stopping his rambling.

"I'm rambling, aren't I?" I smiled at him, and nodded. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I'll just, I mean, I guess I'll just go..."

What? He thinks I don't feel the same way! "Wait!" I said loudly, and I grabbed his hand before he could exit the classroom. He looked back at me, his eyes full of hope. I took a few steps toward him, and took his other hand. I looked up at him, and smiled.

"I feel the same way, Fred."

It was just about all I could say, because I didn't trust myself with any other words. He grinned at me, and started to lean down. I nearly stopped breathing as his lips softly met mine. It was over as soon as it started.

Both of us were blushing, and we smiled at each other.


End file.
